Premier Farnell ready to boost performance
PREMIER Farnell today said it expects to gain market share and position the business for enhanced financial performance, after reporting a rise in group sales.
The Leeds-based electronic components supplier said excluding sales of card-sized computer Raspberry Pi,group sales grew 2.1% year on year in the third quarter from a decline of 1.4% in the first half. Over nine months, group sales excluding Raspberry Pi declined 0.3% year on year.
Announcing the firm’s interim management statement, Laurence Bain, group CEO, said: “Sales trends in the third quarter improved across the business compared to the first half, despite the impact of the US Federal Government shutdown on the Americas.
“We are focused on optimising our financial performance in line with market conditions and anticipate that our full year operating margin will be broadly similar to that achieved in the first half. As we execute our strategy and position the group for the longer term, we will continue to seek to drive our operating margin towards our targeted range.
“We have limited forward order visibility, however we continue to expect to grow our active customer base, gain market share and position the business for enhanced financial performance.”
Premier Farnell, which took home the Exporter award at this year’s Yorkshire Business Masters, said the progress it has made as it executes its strategic vision has delivered active customer base growth of 1%, whilst service metrics remain at record levels.
The group said: “This reflects the enhancements we have made to our high service offering, including recent investments in inventory. We continue to enrich our customer proposition, such as through the rollout of our new web platform. We have also made further progress as we grow our business in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, China and India.
“There have been no significant changes to the group’s financial position during the period with cash flow and net debt in line with our expectations.”
